The Opal Project

04/22/2024

Except As A Punishment This is a slightly edited comment that I put in the chat of the webinar on the wrap up of social workers advocacy - although it was alluded to in the question and answer period, with other comments that were in the chat, and a hearty laugh could be heard, that there were more "statements than questions" it was overlooked and not addressed - as were other people's comments . . . .

HB 576/SB 453 - Maryland's Involuntary Outpatient Commitment legislation which sadly and disturbingly passed.

Involuntary Outpatient Commitment is psychiatric parole and part of the modern system of slavery.

All forms of slavery, including slavery as a form of punishment and labor as a form of treatment, ought to be abolished.

Psychiatry has no physical evidence of any psychiatric diagnosis assigned to individuals. There is plenty of physical evidence for the physical damages psychiatric practices, procedures, and products cause people.

The pain caused by court ordered psychiatry, includes iatrogenic effects, disabilities, known loss of life - and death.

Even a person who is voluntarily complying with informed consent with psychiatry experiences a loss of life for compliance with psychiatry. These losses are real and severe.

Forced compliance with psychiatry sentences one now, in Maryland like other States in the US, puts someone at risk to torture, slavery, and likely, manslaughter if not murder not only in State-operated institutions, but in the community as well.

The passage of this legislation in the House and Senate of Maryland is a loss for Human Rights beyond Maryland, which nationally, prior to passage of this legislature, as a State, Maryland was viewed as a protector and promoter of human rights with a forward-thinking public psychiatric system.

Anyone interested in organizing within abolitionist frameworks, please connect with me (516) 319-4295 [email protected] Lauren J. Tenney, PhD, MPhil, MPA, BPS, Psychiatric Survivor.

Except As A Punishment

TEXT OF PHOTO::: The Way We Think About The 13th Amendment Is Dead Wrong. Neither slavery nor involuntary servitude, EXCEPT AS A PUNISHMENT for crime whereof the party shall have been duly convicted, shall exist within the United States,
or any place subject to their jurisdiction. www.LaurenTenney.us facebook.com/TenneyLauren facebook.com/ExceptAsAPunishment

Lauren Tenney

12/16/2023

? I am in the 18th Century heading toward the 17th century.

Lauren Tenney

01/25/2023

Get involved and speak out! Focus Group for Individuals and Families with Lived Experience with AOT & Focus Group for Advocates



The New York State Office of Mental Health (OMH) is in the process of evaluating Assisted Outpatient Treatment or AOT - aka Kendra’s Law - and planning for a new study.



We are setting up focus groups for individuals and family members who have lived experience with AOT so we can collect your input about what’s most important to study. We’re also seeking input from the advocacy community.



The focus groups for Individuals and Families will be held on:



Date One: January 18, 2023 from 2:30 pm to 4:00 pm
Registration Link:
https://meetny.webex.com/weblink/register/rd81800061210596478efe4a8cdf196a0



Date Two: January 26, 2023 from 10:30 am to 12:00 noon
Registration Link:
https://meetny.webex.com/weblink/register/rcde0b0d6dc92f2b40ec76d50d0cedf23



Date Three: January 31, 2023 from 6:00 pm to 7:30 pm
Registration Link:
https://meetny.webex.com/weblink/register/r2bde41823d2624f99454b310ac9d3294



The focus group for Advocates will be held on January 30, 2023 from 11:00 am to 12:30 noon
Registration Link:
https://meetny.webex.com/weblink/register/r6993cc514ac4b8151972cc5b47d6e7cc



We invite you to register for one of these dates and join us for these important conversations.



History

On August 9, 1999, the Governor signed Kendra's Law (Chapter 408 of the Laws of 1999), creating a statutory framework for court-ordered Assisted Outpatient Treatment (AOT) to ensure that individuals with mental illness and a history of hospitalizations or violence participate in community-based services appropriate to their needs. The law became effective in November of 1999 and reviewed periodically by the legislature for continuation. Since that time, the New York State Office of Mental Health (OMH) has been evaluating the impact of Kendra's Law on individuals receiving court-ordered services. This past Budget session, in April of 2022, included several new substantive changes, and again extends the law until 2027. In 2009 the Duke Study was published, which was the first independent evaluation of the program.



For more information about AOT please visit: https://my.omh.ny.gov/bi/aot





Again, we’re inviting your participation in the focus groups to help us plan for an updated, objective study of the AOT program. Thank you!



Questions about the focus groups can be sent to Suzanne Feeney, [email protected]





Amanda Saake, LMSW, CPRP, NYCPS-P

Chief Advocacy Officer

Office of Advocacy and Peer Support Services

Pronouns: she, her, hers



Office of Mental Health

Hope. Recovery. Resilience.

44 Holland Avenue, Albany, NY, 12229

(518) 473-6579

11/23/2022

PEER Magazine 9.0 Fall and Winter 2022, an ART+ for Social Justice Peer mHealth zine

09/14/2019